Copy the link below

Sad news this Friday morning: Gerard Kelly, best known for his comedic roles in City Lights, Scotch and Wry, and Extras, died Thursday evening after suffering a brain aneurysm earlier this week. The Scottish actor was 51.

The BBC reports that Kelly was surrounded by family and friends when he passed and a spokesperson confirms that he died peacefully. He was staying at West Middlesex University Hospital after collapsing at his London home on Tuesday.

"Gerard will be deeply missed by his friends and family and indeed his huge fan base across his beloved Scotland and further afield," his family said in a statement. "He was a private and gentle man and his family and friends would appreciate privacy during this sad and difficult time."

Kelly's popularity also blossomed in hard-edged roles like the evil Callum Finnegan in the British soap opera Brookside, and Jimmy in the long-running drama EastEnders. One of his most memorable characters came in the saucy theater director Ian "Bunny" Bunton in Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's Extras, in which he appeared between 2005 and 2007. He also depicted the campy Father Henderson on BBC Radio 4's Fags, Mags and Bags.

Earlier this summer, Kelly played "The Narrator" in The Rocky Horror Picture Show in both Edinburgh and Aberdeen. He was set to reprise the role for a one-week performance in Glasgow next month.

RIP Gerard Kelly. Let us pay tribute to the one and only Ian "Bunny" Bunton: